Many wireless network devices (i.e., wireless stations) are available to facilitate data communications and network access at home and in the workplace, including wireless access points, wireless clients, wireless bridges, wireless repeaters, and wireless enabled laptop computers and personal digital assistants.
In a conventional wireless local area network (WLAN), an access point (AP) is a station that transmits and receives data (sometimes referred to as a transceiver). A conventional AP connects users to other users within the network and also can serve as the point of interconnection between the WLAN and a fixed wire network. Each AP can serve multiple users within a defined network area. As users move beyond the range of one AP, the user can be automatically handed over to a next one. Alternatively, the range of an AP can be extended using, for example, a wireless repeater.
A wireless repeater provides connectivity between devices in a wireless network. For example, a wireless repeater can be used to extend the range, and hence the connectivity of, a conventional wireless AP. Traditionally, a wireless repeater acts as a pass through device, which receives data from a first wireless device and transmits the data to other devices in a WLAN. The pass through device provides signal boost so as to effectively extend the range of the initial transmitting device (e.g., the AP). One or more wireless clients in a WLAN can communicate with the AP using the wireless repeater. The AP can be coupled to a wired network, for example over a cable, and provide connectivity for the wireless clients to the wired network.
A conventional wireless repeater includes two WLAN ports for communicating with two wireless devices (an upstream device, such as an AP, and one or more downstream devices, such as wireless clients). In addition, conventional wireless repeaters include one or more wireless applications for exchanging data between the WLAN ports, a wired port for communicating with a configuration device (i.e., a laptop computer), a web server, and code and graphics for supporting the configuration process.
In order to provide connectivity, the wireless repeater must be configured. Configuration includes set-up including the selection of a channel, security options, mode of operation along with other configurable parameters. Configuration may also include periodic status checks. A user installing a wireless repeater in a WLAN typically must configure the wireless repeater out of the box, using, for example, a laptop computer that is coupled by a hard-wired connection to the wired port of the wireless repeater.
Wireless repeaters are typically shipped with a default configuration to allow connection of wireless clients, but most require an elaborate and confusing manual configuration procedure to set up. For example, the following instructions describe how to manually configure a particular wireless repeater.
A user couples a laptop computer to a wired port on the wireless repeater. The user then opens a client configuration program for the wireless repeater. A new wireless network configuration can be generated or a default configuration edited. To connect to an upstream device (e.g., an AP), the upstream device is activated. The user must enter a network name or Secure Set ID (SSID) name for the network. Alternately, the user can scan for an available network. To specify a name, the user looks for a network name or SSID option in the configuration utility. The user must ensure that their wireless repeater's network card's name or SSID setting is identical to the network name or SSID assigned to the upstream device (e.g., the AP). The user enables a security selection, for example enabling wired equivalent privacy (WEP) encryption and enters one or more keys. The keys on the user device and upstream device must be identical and the same key type (encryption level and hexadecimal or ASCII format) must be used on every device. The user then saves the configuration and attempts to connect the user device to the upstream device. The process may be further complicated if the wireless repeater uses a different configuration (e.g., a different channel or different keys) to communicate to downstream devices.